Want to Know Where Your Clothes Came From? There’s an App for That!

A new app, developed in Australia, hopes to give consumers the information they want on the supply chains producing their clothing.

We’ve covered ethical fashion in great detail on Procurious in the past. Most of our coverage has focussed on the public’s desire for cheap, rapidly produced garments or ‘fast fashion’ as its been dubbed.

This business model has had a huge impact on the supply chains of leading retailers, as they push to make the latest fashions available quicker and for a lower price. Many have resorted to shifting production to the developing world in a bid to reap the benefits of low cost production as a means to keep price down and maintain margins.

As these practice have become public, many firms have been accused of scrimping on safety and ignoring labour and environmental concerns in the their supply chains, and have faced harsh criticism as a result.

The Turning Tide

While this fast fashion business model has dictated the retail garment industry for the best part of a decade now, it appears that the tide is starting to turn. Many consumers are now prioritising the ethical footprint of their purchasing, just as much as cost and style.

Companies like Patagonia (who we’ve written about before) and KowTow have started appealing directly to consumers’ better judgement by creating a business model that focuses on sustainability first.

Even H&M, long condemned for its questionable supply chain practices has released a ‘conscious collection’ of sustainably produced garments. However, many have accused the firm of ‘green washing’ as, although it is producing a small amount of clothing sustainably, the vast majority of the company’s range still follows the fast fashion model.

There’s an App for That

Regardless of motive, this shift in consumer psyche has spawned a new app called ‘Good On You’. Developed in Australia, the app gives shoppers the ability to understand the ethical impact of the clothes they are buying, directly through their smart phone.

The app analyses clothing ranges based on the three broad categories – environmental, labour and treatment of animals – before creating a final rank for that brand.

‘Good On You’ doesn’t currently carry out its own auditing, instead analysing firms’ current accreditations from organisations like Fair Trade, Ethical Clothing Australia and other non-governmental organisations.

The app aims to inform customers of brands’ practices and supply chains, and call out firms using sustainability as a marketing tool, particularly when they don’t have credentials to back it up.

Speaking on the opaque nature of sustainability marketing and supply chains, Co-Founder at ‘Good on You’, Gordon Renouf said; “We want brands to say exactly what they’re doing, to be transparent about the supply chains, to show where their factories are so other stakeholders and unions can check on them.”

Find out more about the company’s aim here and download the app before you next go shopping!